Battling the Big Lie

How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America

By: Dan Pfeiffer

Narrated by: Dan Pfeiffer

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and co-host of Pod Save America—how to combat political truth decay and baldfaced lies of the Right Wing propaganda machine.

In BATTLING THE BIG LIE, bestselling author Dan Pfeiffer dissects how the Right Wing built a massive, billionaire funded disinformation machine powerful enough to bend reality and nearly steal the 2020 election. From the perspective of someone who has spent decades on the frontlines of politics and media, Pfeiffer lays out how the Right Wing media apparatus works, where it came from, and what progressives can do to fight back against disinformation.

Over a period of decades, the Right Wing has built a massive media apparatus that is weaponizing misinformation and spreading conspiracy theories for political purposes. This “MAGA Megaphone”⁠—personified by Fox News and fueled by Facebook⁠—is waging war on the very idea of objective truth…and they are winning. This disinformation campaign is how Donald Trump won in 2016, almost won in 2020, and why the United States is incapable of addressing problems from COVID-19 to climate change.

Pfeiffer explains how and why the Republicans have come to depend on culture war grievances, crackpot conspiracies, and truly sinister propaganda as their primary political strategies, including:

• Republican efforts from Roger Ailes to Steve Bannon and Donald Trump to sow distrust while exploiting the media’s biases and the Democratic Party’s blind spots.
• The optimization of Facebook as the ultimate carrier of Trumpist messaging.
• Educating the Left to stop clutching pearls and start "fighting fire with fire.”
• How to fight back against the trolls spreading disinformation and hate on the Internet.

A functioning democracy depends on a shared understanding of reality. America is teetering on the edge because one of the two parties in our two-party system views truth, facts, and science as their opponent. BATTLING THE BIG LIE is call to arms for anyone and everyone that cares about truth and democracy. There are no easy answers or quick fixes, but something must be done.

©2022 Dan Pfeiffer (P)2022 Twelve

Critic reviews

"The United States is in the throes of a disinformation epidemic that is being fueled by right-wing media personalities, unchecked social media companies, and extremist politicians—posing a clear and present threat to our democracy. In his book, Battling the Big Lie, Dan has demonstrated a sharp understanding of how we got here, while lifting up some of the most promising efforts leading in this fight and offering a roadmap for how we can all play a role in countering disinformation where it spreads—to quite literally save our democracy. Anyone who is concerned about the impact disinformation is having on society today should read this book."—Tara McGowan, Founder of Good Information Inc. and Courier Newsroom

“Our real lives and online lives are so confusing and frankly at times depressing that we want to just tune out but we know we can’t! Too much is at stake. In Battling the Big Lie which is part guide, part battle plan and a little bit of therapy, Pfeiffer helps breakdown how and why we got here, and gives us the tools to fight back against disinformation, talk to people we disagree with and help create an environment where progressive media can thrive. A vital read going into our upcoming elections."—Alyssa Mastromonaco, New York Times bestselling author and co-host of Crooked Media’s Hysteria podcast

“Democracy will not survive if truth continues to be a casualty of propaganda and disinformation. Battling the Big Lie is an enlightening, at times enraging, and always entertaining guide through the recent history of our politics and media, drawing on Dan Pfeiffer’s unparalleled experience. Read this book if you want to understand what is happening in American politics, why it is happening, and what you can do about it.”—Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor and author of After the Fall

Performance not always easy

I love Dan and listen yo him on Crooked Media. The first quarter of the book, he didn't seem comfortable with his reading. It didn't sound like him and was rushed. Later on he seemed like the voice and person I knew from podcasts.

Good Analysis, but . . .

I don't know what happened here. I watch Dan on Pod Save the World on a regular basis. I know he's passionate about the subject, but I heard none of it in this narration. The story is compelling, of course, but I got a little bored listening to this book. I hope the next time, he presents with the exciitment, frustration, anger, outrage and humor he shows in his orher work. I'd like him to tell us thhis crazy stuff and draw us into it.

Get the print edition.

Stop hiring authors to read their own books. Dan Pfeiffer is not good at it.

Dan Gets it....

Dan is wasting his time as a talking head on a Podcast, although I look forward to hearing him each week. He should be the chief strategist for the Democratic Party. This book is an excellent analysis of how to really do battle with republicans. And he takes trump apart piece by piece, which is always fun.

I just finished Will Smith's book.

I just finished Will Smith's book. He had me swept to tears at the passing of his father. He had me pumping my fist when he talked about Grand Master Caz's Yvette and rapped a verse. I beamed like a proud poppa when Whip My Hair went on tour and still have a feeling from when JL talked him into meeting Muhamed Ali.

Dan Pfeiffer's book sounded like Pod Save America, Only Dans. it sounded like Dan was reading me his book, which he was.

I hung on every word and loved the topic and as a huge Crooked fan, I appreciated Dan's voice in my ear guiding his research.

I finished in one setting.

He's no Will Smith, though, just saying. 😁

Next time rap Grand Master Caz, Dan!

Very Informative

The reader reads really fast 🙂 but content was outstanding with lots over interesting concepts & courses of action. Did not like constant references to “old people “.

Great Author on a very relevant topic.

So full disclosure, I am a big fan of Crooked Media and have campaigned for Democrats for the past decade. This book explains why people like me feel that it is so important to get in the game. We can lose our country and our way of life to brain washed, fascist zombies, OR we can help inform our fellow citizens of the dangers of propaganda machines like Fox News, and their lies for profit clones. Plus Crooked Media and DF are just as fun as they are thoughtful.

Great book, sub-par Audible performance

A really great primer on where we are, how we got here, and how we can fix things. Call me a cynic, but frankly I'm skeptical about liberals' ability to right the ship, for a number of reasons that are touched upon in this book. Make no mistake, the tone of this book is anything but hopeful; it is depressing. Insightful and helpful, but very depressing. It's a play-by-play of the slow-motion train wreck that we have been witnessing and which, by all indications, will continue until our experiment in constitutional democracy inevitably fails.

As for the Audible version of the book, I would probably take off 1-2 stars. I am very familiar with Dan Pfeiffer, having listened to various Crooked Media podcasts for years and having read his books before. His delivery is suitable for conversation, as in a podcast, but not really for reading. His tone and cadence remind me of listening to classmates in high school reading from a textbook; like he's reading the words for the first time. Some lines in the book are actually quite well-written, but they lose their impact with Pfeiffer's lame delivery.

However, the most egregious and distracting part of the Audible version is how poorly they inserted re-recorded lines. In any audiobook, a lot of lines are re-recorded for any number of reasons, but when it is done well the performer's voice, tone, pitch, speed, etc. are all matched perfectly with the original recording so that it's not obvious where a line has been re-recorded and inserted. That is not the case with this book; there are a LOT of re-recorded lines, and every single one of them is extremely obvious, so much so that many of them sound like a completely different person reading. It is jarring, so be aware and maybe just stay away from Audible version.

It's great, Dan!

Been listening to the pod for years. Always appreciate his insight. This was a solid crash course for anyone not paying attention to this generation of political messaging, and a nice refresher, for those who do. Takes that information, and shifts toward ways in which these hurdles can be surmounted.

Entertaining and informative!

I listen to pod save America every week, but this book puts all of the little pieces together to form a cohesive picture of exactly what happened, leading up to and beyond January 6th. All of the little ways in which the Trump campaign acted to set up the Big Lie. I knew at the time that they were up to something. no good and now we can all see exactly how they planned and executed their attempted coup.